Golem
|upkeep_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = * |defense = |resist = * |hits = |abilities = Poison Immunity Death Immunity }} The Golem is a type of Normal Unit. This unit is unique to the Dwarf race, and may only be created at a Dwarf town, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain an Armorers' Guild for this to be possible. The Golem is a strong creature, valued for its heavy punch. It is used primarily for killing single, heavily-armored targets, such as well-equipped Heroes and Fantastic Units. It will normally accompany Hammerhands and assist them in taking out such strong targets. The Golem is constructed for durability, with a very high score and plenty of Hit Points, but its most unique quality is Resistance - it has the highest Resistance score of any unit, rendering it completely immune to all Curses and a wide variety of Special Attacks. Even if the Golem's Resistance score is reduced, it is still completely immune to Poison Damage and to the majority of magic. Golems will almost always have at least one Experience Level by default ("Regular"). This makes them a little stronger than described above, and they'll just keep getting stronger as more and more Experience is accumulated. Golems require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Failure to pay these costs will result in the unit being disbanded automatically. Unit Properties Physical Description The Golem is a magical construct - an inanimate block of matter that has become animated through magical means. It is likely made completely out of iron or steel, giving it terrific durability against damage. The Golem has a roughly humanoid shape, with a head, two arms and two legs, and is much taller than any human. It attacks by swinging its heavy fists, and this is enough to crush through virtually any amount of armor. Because it is not alive in any meaning of the word, the Golem is completely immune to all but the most direct magics, and cannot be poisoned or "killed". It can only be destroyed by physically rending it apart bit by bit. The Golem is a . Attack Properties The Golem has a straightforward Melee Attack that is strong enough to punch through armor, but is not too impressive on its own. The Golem attacks with by default. Since Golems are almost always created with an extra , this is normally increased to . This allows the Golem to inflict about with each attack, on average. This is sufficient to go through almost any armor in the game. Only Enchanted targets, or Heroes wearing ample armor, stand a chance of blocking all this damage. On the other hand, the Golem is only a . Its attack is thus less dangerous on the whole, and would take some time to kill an entire unit of any kind. Fortunately, as explained below, the Golem can keep attacking the same target repeatedly - since it is so hard to destroy. Defense Properties The Golem is constructed entirely out of heavy metal, and thus has a Defense rating of - one of the highest among all Normal Units, and rivaling most Fantastic Units as well. This allows the Golem to block an average of from any attack. The majority of Normal Units, as well as some Fantastic Units, will find it difficult to cause any damage to this creature whatsoever. Only heavy-hitting units can get through this much armor. Ranged Attacks, especially at a long distance, are almost useless against it. To back this up, the Golem possesses a high . Even damage that gets through its thick armor will therefore still need to chip away at the creature until it is finally brought down. One of the Golem's greatest qualities is its Resistance score, which is by far the highest natural score available to any creature in the game. By default it is , but the free this unit normally gets will raise this score to . This essentially renders the Golem completely immune to all Curses, as well as many spell effects and several kinds of Special Attacks. Additional Experience Levels only help in reducing the impact of such spells like Mind Storm which reduce Resistance. On top of this, the Golem possesses two backup immunities: Poison Immunity and Death Immunity. The former makes the creature completely resistant to all Poison Touch attacks, regardless of how strong they are. The second makes the creature immune to several spells from the realm - they cannot be cast at the Golem at all. Other Properties Golems move at a slow speed of . They cannot move across Ocean or Shore tiles, and thus are restricted to land. They have no special movement properties, and do not possess the Mountaineer ability like other Dwarf units do. Basic Strategy The Golem's primary advantage is its nigh-indestructibility. Most units will find it difficult to injure a Golem at all, and a large number of enemy spells will be completely ineffectual against it. The Golem's survivability allows it to defend very well against large numbers of enemies, and almost guarantees its survival in most battles. On the other hand, Golems possess only a mild Melee Attack for their size and cost. While they are very effective in hitting through heavy armor, the overall damage output is low, and it may take them many attacks to kill one target. Fortunately, a Golem will often get to make many attacks during combat because it is so hard to destroy - the longer the Golem survives, the more attacks it can make! Golems make a great blocking force, for engaging units that possess a deadly Special Attack that would normally kill their prey - but would do nothing against the Golem's fantastic Resistance score. Golems can thus engage creatures like the Basilisk or Gorgons, Wraiths and Death Knights, and even the powerful Great Wyrm, without fear of being killed off immediately. While the Golem is engaging its target, other Golems or Dwarves can move in to assist in destroying the enemy creature. Because of their low attack damage, Golems are often accompanied by Hammerhands, whose task is to make the actual kill while a Golem is keeping the target busy. Alternatively, several Golems (if you can afford them) can simply gang up on a single enemy unit to destroy it. This can take longer, but then the Golems are so resilient that they'll probably survive even the longest battles. Ability Overview Poison Immunity * This unit cannot be hurt by Poison Damage. It will automatically pass any roll to avert such damage. Death Immunity * This unit cannot be affected by any spell or ability that causes death or fear, including most of the combat spells from the . Experience Table The following table illustrates how Golems improve as they gain Experience. Any properties that are not listed here do not improve with Experience in any way. * To achieve this level, either the Warlord Retort or the Crusade spell must be in play. ** To achieve this level, both the Warlord Retort and the Crusade spell must be in play simultaneously. Average Damage Output The table below details the average amount of damage that each in a Golem unit will deliver with each type of attack, based on . It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to figure out the chance of hurting that target. Acquisition Golems are unique to the Dwarf race, and thus may be produced in any Dwarf Town. A town must contain an Armorers' Guild to be able to produce Golems. Should a town lose an existing Armorers' Guild, it can no longer produce Golems until a replacement structure is built. Note that this building requirement means that Golems produced in towns will always start as "Regular" troops (one free Experience Level), giving them a small but significant bonus above the default unit strength. The Construction Cost of this unit is . Golems may appear for hire as Mercenaries. They may already have some Experience on being hired, and several units may be hired simultaneously. Hiring these units requires a certain cost in that depends on many different factors. Golem Mercenaries have the same Upkeep Cost as a normally-constructed unit. Category:Units Category:Normal Units Category:Dwarves